Mindflayer

MINDFLAYER
General
Class	Greater Machine
Health	30
Weight	Heavy (Flying)
Rank	5
Locational Damage
Head (200%)
Limbs (150%)
Conditional Modifiers
Flammable
Airshot
Splatters
Magnet Pull
Damage Type Modifiers
	Shotgun Parries: 150%;
Radiance Multipliers
Health	1.5x
Damage	1.5x
Speed	1.5x
Appearances
	2-3; 3-1 5-1, 5-3; 6-1 7-1, 7-3, 7-S 0-E, 1-E P-2; The Cyber Grind
Cyber Grind Data

The Mindflayer is a Greater Machine introduced in 2-3: SHEER HEART ATTACK, and is the fifth Machine-class enemy that the player encounters in ULTRAKILL.

Mindflayers are floating machines that consist of a cuboid, rectangular machine-like "head" with two columns sticking out from their back and shoulder pauldrons that are primarily grey in coloration with teal accents. The rest of their teal, plastic body underneath is a female, humanoid form with two mechanical, rectangular legs. Their limbs are articulated with hinges, and five black tendrils with sharp teal ends attached to the machine part trail behind it, which the Mindflayer can control and use while attacking.

Behavior

Mindflayers will slowly float around the player, teleporting before doing specific attacks or when the player is far enough away. Every time a Mindflayer receives 7 damage, be it in a single increment or over time, it will teleport away.

Attacks

Melee Swipe
The Mindflayer will attempt to swipe with its tendrils at the player, dealing 30 damage. This attack is parriable, but will not interrupt the attack.

Beam
The Mindflayer will float still in the air and charge up a cyan beam that sweeps in the player's direction, dealing 35 damage. This attack cannot be parried.

Hell Seeker Barrage
The Mindflayer will slowly start raising its arms and swiftly push them in front of itself, casting five Hell Seekers from its tendrils that home in on the player and deal 30 damage. The Hell Seekers can be parried with the Feedbacker, deflected away by any explosion, or destroyed with the Sharpshooter Revolver.

Self Destruct
Upon losing all of its health, the Mindflayer will stop moving, scream loudly, and shake in a fetal position before combusting into a large blue explosion that deals 50 damage. This explosion counts as a player-made explosion, meaning it will not reduce style and count for Multikill bonuses. The player can hit the Mindflayer with the Knuckleblaster or with the Impact Hammer before it explodes to fling it wherever the player is aiming. It will then explode automatically when it hits a surface or an enemy, the latter awarding the player with the + Strike! style bonus.

Strategy

Mindflayers are extremely disruptive enemies that must be prioritized before anything else.

The orbs they shoot can be parried by the Feedbacker for a full heal. They can also be deflected with the Knuckleblaster or detonated with the Sharpshooter Revolver to neutralize them from a distance.

The Electric Railcannon, the Alternate Piercer Revolver and the Sharpshooter are extremely effective on Mindflayers, especially when combined with the Marksman Revolver's Coins to amplify its power. Railcoining is an extremely effective strategy for Mindflayers as it wipes out most, if not all, of its health.

The Nailgun is extremely effective against Mindflayers, and its aim spread can be mostly nullified by placing a Magnet on the Mindflayer. Experienced players can use Overheat Storage for practically infinite heatsinks from the Overheat Nailgun for as long as the player can keep the combo up.

Their beam attack, although dangerous, can be a window for a huge amount of damage with Projectile Boosts and Rockets. Brave players can also approach the Mindflayer during this attack by grappling to it with the Whiplash and then using Shotgun swapping and Knuckleblaster punches for a huge amount of damage.

Evading a Mindflayer can be extremely difficult due to its teleporting nature. Sliding is recommended as the smaller hitbox can be helpful for avoiding its beam attack. Stamina should be conserved for their Melee Swipe attack as there is no other alternative to dodging it. For newer players, using the Screwdriver Railcannon on the Mindflayer will make it unable to teleport until the screw is removed. This can be helpful for newer players that are not confident in dodging the Mindflayer. However, the downside to this strategy is that you cannot use techniques such as Railcoining to damage the Mindflayer until the Railcannon charge refills again. The screw can be parried to deplete about half of its health, making it easier to kill, but more risky when on Violent difficulty or above due to it becoming enraged when below half health.

Using a well-timed explosive attack while the Mindflayer is summoning the Hell Seekers will make them reflect back into the Mindflayer, killing it instantly or gravely injuring it. The S.R.S. Cannon's Cannonball is especially efficient for this due to its explosion lingering for a long time if shot in the air.

Difficulty Changes

Harmless

Beam moves 35% slower.

Lenient

Beam moves 15% slower.

Violent

Enrages and teleports more frequently when at half health and under.

Brutal

Immune to the friendly fire damage of their own projectiles unless they are parried.
Beam tracking is more accurate and efficient.

Terminal Entry

Mindflayer

TYPE: Greater Machine

DATA:
Rare but extremely dangerous, the Mindflayer is a machine that has adapted and mastered the use of Hell Energy alongside its own technological prowess.

The machine itself is only the top part of its apparent body, the rest of which is a plastic shell in the form of a human, which they seem to have built themselves.

The plastic body serves no function and is only for aesthetic purposes.

Despite it being a waste of resources, Mindflayers will use everything in its power to protect the plastic body from harm, even if that means destroying itself in the process.

Mindflayers seem to prefer a female form, though very rare occasions of male forms have also been recorded.

STRATEGY:
- When encountering a Mindflayer, it's imperative to keep track of their actions either through visuals or audio.

- Due to their homing projectiles being fired in a burst, a safe explosive such as a Knuckleblaster blastwave^[sic] is the most efficient in deflecting them.

- Their instant teleportation can make consistent positional advantage quite difficult, but a Screwdriver drill will temporarily stop them from teleporting.

Media

Icon

Gameplay Demonstrations

A Mindflayer firing projectiles.
A Mindflayer firing its laser.
A Mindflayer swiping.
A Mindflayer self-destructing.

Concept Art & Renders

Concept Art by BigRockBMP.^[1]
Ditto, wireless.^[1]

Audio

Trivia

Hakita stated in a Developer Livestream that the Mindflayer was created as an equivalent to conventional Succubus-like characters or otherwise sexualized feminine caricatures to be added into the Lust layer.^[2]
In reference to the lore entry, there is a 1/50 chance for a Mindflayer to have a male-presenting body.